The Arizona sheriff who oversaw the handling of the Nancy Guthrie investigation will remain in office after a vote to oust him failed Tuesday night.
The County Board of Supervisors voted on a motion to vacate Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos from office, declining to remove him from the leadership role. But the board referred Nanos to the Arizona Attorney General's Office for an investigation into allegations he perjured himself during a deposition.
That deposition was part of a lawsuit from the president of the local deputies' union that claimed discrepancies in his police record. The lawsuit was unrelated to the Guthrie case.
Matt Heinz, one of the county supervisors, stressed the importance of accountability in such a high-profile role.
Heinz added that Pima County residents deserve to have confidence that their Sheriff's Department is being led with integrity and professionalism. By referring the case to the Arizona Attorney General, Heinz said, county supervisors are allowing the appropriate authorities to determine the facts and pursue any warranted action.
Separately, the sheriff has faced mounting criticism of how he handled the Guthrie case. The 84-year-old hasn’t been found since she went missing from her Tucson home on Feb. 1
Nanos has indicated he will let voters decide his future in upcoming elections.
A native of El Paso, Nanos started with the sheriff’s office as a detention officer in 1984. He eventually rose through the ranks to become second-in-command before being appointed sheriff in 2015 when his boss retired. Before leading the sheriff's department, he took part in the investigation into the mass shooting outside of a grocery store that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) back in 2011.